KENS-TV
Image:KENS 5 SA.gif
San Antonio, Texas
Branding	KENS 5 (general) KENS 5 Eyewitness News (newscasts)
Channels	Analog: 5 (VHF) Digital: 39 (UHF)
Affiliations	CBS
Owner	Belo Corporation (KENS-TV, Inc.)
First air date	February 15, 1950
Call letters’ meaning	Express-News Service
Sister station(s)	KCWX
Former callsigns	KEYL (1950-1954)
Former affiliations	Both secondary: DuMont (1950-1955) ABC (1950-1957)
Transmitter Power	100 kW (analog) 825 kW (digital)
Height	424 m (analog) 445 m (digital)
Facility ID	26304
Transmitter Coordinates	29°16′11.5″N 98°15′55.9″W / 29.269861, -98.265528
Website	Coming in Janurary 2009 KENS5.com

KENS-TV is the CBS television affiliate in San Antonio, Texas, owned by Belo Corporation. KENS also manages KCWX under a local marketing agreement (LMA). Its transmitter is located in Elmendorf, Texas.

History

KENS signed on the air on February 15, 1950, as KEYL, a CBS affiliate with secondary affiliations with ABC (shared with WOAI-TV) and DuMont. Four years later, KEYL changed its call letters to KENS after the San Antonio Express-News bought the station. KENS was the second station to begin broadcasting in San Antonio, three months behind WOAI-TV. DuMont ceased most network operations in 1955, but would honor network commitments until 1956; at that point, DuMont disappeared from the station's schedule. It lost ABC when KONO-TV (now KSAT-TV) signed on in 1957, leaving KENS as a full-time CBS affiliate.

In 1962, the Express-News and KENS-TV were purchased by Harte-Hanks Communications. Due to the Federal Communications Commission's tightening of cross-ownership rules, Harte-Hanks sold the newspaper in 1973 to Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation while keeping KENS-TV. In 1993, Harte-Hanks acquired what at the time became KENS-AM. In September 1997, Harte-Hanks sold its remaining media properties, including the KENS stations, to the E. W. Scripps Company in order to concentrate on direct marketing. At the same time, Belo announced that it would swap its stake in the Food Network to Scripps in exchange for the KENS stations. The Harte-Hanks/Scripps deal and the transfer of Belo's stake in the Food Network to Scripps were both completed on October 15 of that year. At that time, Belo took over the operation of the KENS stations under a time brokerage agreement. KENS-AM/TV officially became Belo-owned stations on December 4, 1997. KENS-AM was sold off to Disney/ABC in 2003, becoming Radio Disney station KRDY.

KENS is still closely associated with the Express-News, even though the station and newspaper have been under separate ownership for many years. The station currently shares its main website with the newspaper; however, in January 2009, the station's website will be relaunched on a separate address.

In the mid-1980s, KENS broadcast a short-lived second channel, exclusively on Rogers Cablevision channel 24, called KENS II.

KENS is one of the broadcast homes of the NBA San Antonio Spurs, and has also been the home of game shows Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! for two decades.

Bob Rogers still is KENS most successful and longest running News Director. Rogers kept KENS in the number one ratings spot for over two decades. He was also responsible for hiring, coaching and helping the careers of many local and national news anchors, reporters and correspondents. He left KENS in the late 90's and retired.

Digital Television

Analog-to-digital conversion

After the analog television shutdown and digital conversion, which is scheduled to take place on February 17, 2009 ^[1], KENS-TV will move its digital broadcasts to channel 39. ^[2] However, through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers will display KENS- TV's virtual channel as 5.

This move also allows sister station KCWX (which currently lacks an over-the-air digital signal) to begin digital broadcasts on channel 5 when the DTV transition is complete.

Newscasts

As of the end of the February 2007 ratings period, KENS had taken first place for their 10 o'clock newscast. As of the November 2007 ratings period, KENS also took first place in the morning newscasts. KENS is in a spirited battle with KSAT-TV for first place at noon and 6 p.m. newscasts. Rival WOAI-TV is at third place in all time slots.

When a new version of The Early Show debuted on CBS on January 7, 2008, KENS decided to cut their weekday morning newscast from 5am-7am, originally it was 5am-8am, abandoning the local/national hybrid format. Also at the same time, Itza Gutierrez left the station's Saturday Morning newscast to become a stay-at-home mother. She has since been replaced by Stacia Willson

Great Day SA

Great Day SA is a live morning show. The program airs daily from 9-10am (CST). This morning show airs on KENS-TV and features local and national music artists, celebrities, and local human interest stories. Formerly hosted by 1994 Miss USA Lu Parker also formerly hosted by Kristina Guererro who is now at Inside Edition, Great Day SA is currently hosted by KENS 5 Reporter Bridget Smith. This program launched on September 8, 2003. Also, features GDSA reporter Eileen Teves, KENS 5 Morning Meteorologist Paul Mireles, and KENS 5 Traffic Watch Reporter Kellie Patterson.

Eyewitness Newsreel

A long-running, weeknight segment of the news is the "Eyewitness Newsreel" in which anchor Chris Marrou narrates a faux, old-style newsreel at the end of the 10 p.m. newscast. The Newsreel usually consists of humorous segments of local news juxtaposed with out-of-context snips of CBS news anchors, politicians or celebrities "commenting" on the situation. Marrou writes the segment each weeknight.

Eyewitness News HD

At the beginning of June 2008 - KENS 5 began to run ads about "the biggest thing in KENS' history" however that ad specifically would not say exactly what, only that it'll happen June 30, 2008. Which many of us would think "HD!" and, in fact it is HD. Around June 22, 2008 - KENS began running another ad verifying they are in fact going HD Monday, June 30, 2008. This would be San Antonio's first newscasts to go HD.

Personalities

Current On-Air Talent

KENS 5 Anchors

Former On-Air Talent

News/Station Presentation

Newscast Titles

• (Channel 5/KENS 5) Eyewitness News (1970-1998)
• KENS 5 Eyewitness News (1998-present)

Station Slogans

• Eyewitness News: San Antonio's Top-Rated (Satellite) Newscast (1980s)
• Coverage You Can Count On (1998-present)
• San Antonio's #1 Newscast (2002-present)
• San Antonio's Only High Definition Newscast (2008-Present)

References

1. ^ http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf
2. ^ CDBS Print

External links

• mySA.com
• [1]
• Query the FCC's TV station database for KENS
• BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on KENS-TV